CSV Converter is an easy to use application for creating, opening, viewing, editing, saving, converting and searching in CSV and TSV files. The CSV file format is widely used to exchange data arranged in a table, like in a Numbers or Excel spreadsheet.I originally wrote CSV Converter to be able to open CSV files that some apps are having problems with, preview the tabular data and re-save it without the internal inconsistencies that cause the issue.

For example, Excel will read and import CSV files, but can be very finicky about which ones it will consume. Sadly, there is no single CSV file standard so there are many dialects. CSV Converter will translate between these dialects.

Additionally, it can export the table (or all open tables at once) in various formats like Excel, RTF, Word, Open Document text, JSON and as a MultiMarkdown table. It can also copy the table to the clipboard in the format that iWork uses so you can paste it directly in Apple Numbers, Pages or Keynote. See the screenshots for a full list of exported formats.

If you have a CSV file in a dialect that CSV Converter reads differently from what you expected, get in touch and I will help you!

There is automatic text encoding detection, but you can choose the encoding manually from the “File” menu. The same goes for the header row: automatic detection with a manual override. Just open your file and let CSV Converter reopen it with different settings if you have a file that is out of the ordinary.

The detected values for line endings, list separator and encoding are displayed when using “Save As”. This is also useful if you need to match a certain set of CSV parameters. Just set them to those CSV Converter found for a file whose structure needs to match that of another.

You can ask CSV Converter to open any file. It doesn’t need to have “.csv” at the end of the file name, but it should contain tabulated text. So this doesn’t mean CSV Converter can do something useful with every file, but it will try very hard.

You can edit the contents of cells, add & delete rows and columns, reorder the columns (all with full undo and redo). Column headers can be edited via their contextual menu.

If you need to sort multiple columns, you can do it this way: you sort the columns in the reverse (!) order of precedence. So if you want to sort by Last Name and then First Name you just sort the First Name column and then the Last Name column.

There is a “Convert” entry in the “Table” menu. This allows converting “Decimal Point to Comma” and “Decimal Comma to Point”.

This is particularly useful whenever you want to continue working with the data in a version of Apple Numbers that is set up for an area of the world that uses decimal comma, but your data uses points (or vice versa).

The decimal separator conversion feature is designed to only change cells that start with a (negative or positive) decimal number. They may have other text following them, like a currency symbol or a measurement unit. Thousands-separators are handled as well. So your dates that are separated by periods or comma are safe, as is any text that may contain these characters. Only the first decimal number in a cell will be converted.

What's New in Version 1.7.5Reading support for gzipped CSV files (.gz).

New “Transpose” feature in the “Table” menu (swaps rows and columns).

When using “Save As” you can now select whether you want to save as a CSV or TSV file.

Small improvements to converting “Decimal Point to Comma” and “Decimal Comma to Point”.

Improved performance when opening multiple files.

Detection of whether the file format is more like that saved from Apple Numbers or from Excel (regarding quoting style of the cells). This way files that are changed and saved will more closely match the style of the original file. Use “Save As” to choose a different format for the quoting/escaping of cells.

Support for directly saving changes to plain text (.txt) files.

Handling of broken CSV files that contain NUL characters. NUL characters are skipped at the end of cells and are not saved again.

Automatic detection of the MacRoman text encoding.

The delete key now deletes the selected rows.

Support for exporting the row number.

Support for exporting CSV. This uses the current settings for the document. Useful when exporting with row numbers.

Improved the look of column headers when they are being edited.

Added support for exporting the row number.

Added support for exporting CSV. This uses the current settings for the document. Useful when exporting with row numbers.

Later this year I will be dropping 10.7.x support, because this makes translation into other languages much easier. If this is a big problem for you, or you have any issues you need fixed on 10.7.x so you can keep on using CSV Converter productively, please let me know!